Top Headlines

Viking to build further two cruise liners at Fincantieri

Details: Written by Kari Reinikainen Kari Reinikainen; Category: Top Headlines Top Headlines; Published: 16 December 2013 16 December 2013

Viking Cruises and Fincantieri announced today the signing of a contract for the construction of two additional ocean cruise ships, the shipyard said in a statement.

The order brings the number of 47,800 gross ton vessels Viking has on order at the Italian state owned yard for its new Viking Ocean Cruises unit to four, with the first ship due for delivery in 2015.

The new ships will be sister ships to those ordered last year. Deliveries are scheduled for mid 2016 and early 2017. The contract will be effective subject to financing and other customary closing conditions.

This new contract reinforces the already strong commercial relationship between Viking and Fincantieri. On this basis Fincantieri and Viking are discussing additional high-profile joint projects in other cruise segments to further enlarge the scope of the partnership.

Torstein Hagen, Chairman of Viking Cruises, commented on the announcement: “The interest in and popularity of our current ocean itineraries has been incredible, and they are selling at an unprecedented rate. This new order allows us to offer consumers in our other markets the opportunity to explore the world in ways they have never experienced beforethrough our destination-focused itineraries”.

Giuseppe Bono, CEO of Fincantieri, said: "This new order strengthens our partnership with Viking, a group that is displaying remarkable dynamism and ability to achieve important market goals. Bono continued: "Fincantieri has got its fill this year of the new build orders offered by the market. This once again demonstrates our determination and ability to compete without which it would have been hard to achieve these excellent results. We hope that the next few years will provide more and greater satisfaction that we'll need to pursue with the passion and cultural openness demanded by the competitive environment".

STX Finland dismisses rumour of firm contract for third TUI Cruises newbuilding

Details: Written by Kari Reinikainen Kari Reinikainen; Category: Top Headlines Top Headlines; Published: 16 December 2013 16 December 2013

STX Finland, the Finnish unit in STX Offshore & Shipbuilding in South Korea, has dismissed a rumour that it has signed a firm contract for a third 99,300 gross ton newbuilding for TUI Cruises in Hamburg.

However, a the shipbuilder has confirmed to the Finnish media that it now has working capital in place to complete the first two ships, which are due for delivery in 2014 and 2015 respectively.

TUI Cruises has told Cruise Business Online that they do not comment on market rumours.

TUI Travel's online sales grow four times faster than overall sales

Details: Written by Kari Reinikainen Kari Reinikainen; Category: Top Headlines Top Headlines; Published: 10 December 2013 10 December 2013

TUI Travel, the listed London based tour operator that is a major retailer of cruises in the UK and operates five ships on the British market, says it generated £3.7 billion of revenue online within its Mainstream business, reflecting 12% growth in online package bookings.

By comparison, the group's turnover increased by just 3.0% to £15.0 billion. Online thus accounted for 24.7% of the total sales of the group.

"As an online-driven business, we have a focus on the online customer experience. During the year, we continued to see the benefits of the investments we have been making in our online platforms," the company said in a statement.

Recently, the group's Thomson Cruise unit said it will launch an app for users of smart phones and tablets as these now account for 18% of the bookings of the company.

"We are moving to one core online platform across Mainstream. The UK and Nordic markets have made this transition and are seeing significant improvements in conversion as a result of the redesigned user experience and search functionality that makes it easier for the customer to find their perfect holiday experience with us, TUI Travel said today.

TUI Travel upbeat after strong 2013 financial year

Details: Written by Kari Reinikainen Kari Reinikainen; Category: Top Headlines Top Headlines; Published: 10 December 2013 10 December 2013

TUI Travel plc, the London based tour operator that is a major retailer of cruises in the UK and operates five ships on the British market, has reported strong results for its 2013 financial year and looks forward to further good trading in the new year, buoyed mainly by strong British and German markets.

Group pre tax profit before one off items rose to £473 million in 12 months to 30 September from £390 million in the same period a year earlier, while revenues rose to £15.0 billion from £14.5 billion. However, after one off items such as impairment charges, the profit fell to £181 million from £201 million.

"The year has been outstanding and highlights that our strategy of delivering unique holidays sold directly to our customers is the right one. We have once again reported record underlying profits across the business, significantly exceeding the top end of our growth roadmap target of 10%. This follows strong margins across the peak Summer period, particularly in the UK and accelerated business improvement delivery," said Peter J Long, group chief executive officer.

"TUI Travel is structurally well positioned with a robust business model that gives us a long term competitive advantage. The business continues to deliver sustainable growth through our unique holiday experiences, increasingly distributed online, whilst leveraging its scale as one organisation. This in turn, will drive further value for both our customers and shareholders. Building on this year’s outperformance where we have achieved a 13% underlying operating profit growth, I remain confident that we will deliver consistently on our five year annualised growth target of between 7% to 10% at constant currency," Long said in a statement.

In addition to Thomson Cruises, in the UK, TUI Travel owns Quark Expeditions, the expedition cruise line, and Intercruise, the shoreside services provider.

ABB wins $180 million in orders from cruise ship builders in 2013

Details: Written by Teijo Niemelä Teijo Niemelä; Category: Top Headlines Top Headlines; Published: 09 December 2013 09 December 2013

ABB, the leading power and automation technology group, won orders worth $180 million in 2013 to deliver complete electrical power plants and propulsion systems for six new cruise liners that include its latest-generation Azipod XO units. The orders make 2013 the best-ever year for ABB in cruise liners with the Azipod system.

The six ships include two for Norwegian Cruise Line (NCL), two for Royal Caribbean International and one each for Holland America Line and Carnival Cruise Lines, all leading brands in the cruise market. The orders were booked over the course of the year, with about $30 million in the first quarter, about $90 million in the second, about $30 million in the third, and the remaining $30 million in the fourth.

Azipod is an electric propulsion unit, which is housed in a submerged pod outside the ship hull. The pod contains a variable-speed electric motor which drives a fixed-pitch propeller, and can be rotated around its vertical axis to provide propulsion thrust freely in any direction. The Azipod propulsion system eliminates the need for rudders, stern transversal thrusters or long shaft lines inside the ship’s hull. Since its introduction 20 years ago, the Azipod system has found favor among builders of cruise liners and ice-going ships.

“This is a remarkable run of orders for our cruise-ship power and propulsion systems, confirming ABB’s leading position in this high-end market,” said Veli-Matti Reinikkala, head of ABB’s Process Automation division. “Since the launch of the Azipod XO, nearly all of the ships ordered will be equipped with this new generation unit.”

The two ships for NCL are Breakaway Plus class vessels and include complete electrical systems, each with two Azipod XO propulsion units and three bow thrusters. Each has163,000 gross tonnage (gt) with capacity for 4,200 passengers and are due for delivery from German shipyard Meyer Werft GmbH in October 2015 and spring 2017 respectively. ABB will supply Azipod XO units with combined propulsion power of almost 40 MW, plus generators, transformers, frequency converters and related power system equipment. The installation includes ABB’s new “Intelligent Maneuvering Interface” (IMI), which is equipped with the ‘red dot’ design award-winning ABB Azimuth lever and the Azipod Dynamic Optimizing system which can enable fuel savings of up to two percent.

The ships for the Holland America Line and Carnival Cruise Lines are under construction at Fincantieri yards in Italy. For the former, ABB will supply the complete electrical power plant and propulsion system, with 28 MW of power, for a 99,500 gt, 2,660-passenger capacity liner, due for delivery at the start of 2016. The latter liner, 133,500 gt, 4,000-passenger capacity, named Carnival Vista, will feature ABB power plant and propulsion systems, augmented by generators, main switchboards, a remote control system and distribution transformers.

One of the liners for Royal Caribbean International is the Oasis 3, due for delivery from STX France in the second quarter of 2016, equipped with three 20 MW Azipod XO units from ABB. The 225,282 gt, 5,400 passenger-capacity ship will also be equipped with ABB propulsion transformers, propulsion drives and remote control systems. The other, being built by Meyer Werft GmbH, will feature two 20,5 MW Azpod XO propulsion systems as well as generators, main switchboard, a remote control system, bow thruster motors and set of transformers. The ship will be delivered in April 2016.